North Korea is preparing to blow up roads on the border with South Korea, the South Korean government said on Monday (14). The complaint comes amid growing tension after the North accused the South of sending drones to its capital, Pyongyang.
South Korea’s military spokesman claimed that North Korean troops were working under camouflage on roads on their side of the border near the west and east coasts, in what are likely preparations to blow up the roads, possibly as early as Monday. .
North Korea accused South Korea on Friday of sending drones to spread a “large number” of anti-North leaflets over Pyongyang, in what it called a political and military provocation that could lead to armed conflict.
Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined Monday to answer questions about whether the South Korean military or civilians flew the drones.
Kim Jong-un’s sister makes strong statement
In another inflammatory statement targeting South Korea and the United States, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said on Monday that the South Korean military is “clearly” to blame for the case involving the drones, and that the US must also be held responsible.
“If the sovereignty of a nuclear-armed state was violated by mutts domesticated by Yankees, the owner of these dogs must be held responsible for it,” Jong commented, according to state news agency KCNA, referring to South Korea and to the USA.
North Korea’s military said last week that it would completely “cut off” roads and railways connected to South Korea and fortify areas on its side of the border, KCNA reported.
Artillery in readiness
North Korea warned over the weekend of a “horrific disaster” if South Korean drones were seen flying over Pyongyang again.
On Sunday (13), the country reported that it placed eight fully armed artillery units on the border in readiness to open fire.
The South Korean military explained that it refused to answer questions about the drones because addressing North Korean accusations would be equivalent to “being drawn into a tactic” by the neighboring country to “make excuses for provocations”.
South Korea has been seeking to increase its anti-drone defenses since 2022, according to Lee Sung-jun, the spokesman for the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, when five North Korean drones entered its airspace and flew over the capital Seoul for several hours.
Drones can be operated by civilians, experts consider
Lee Kyoung-haing, an expert in military drone operations at Jungwon University, reasoned that civilians would have no problem obtaining drones with a range of 300 km, enough for the round trip between the two countries, with light loads such as leaflets.
Still, other experts point out that even if civilians sent these drones from the South across the border, it might have been difficult to carry out such an operation without government permission.
In any case, it is possible that the authorities failed to detect and block the aircraft.
On Sunday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry said the drones, which were reportedly detected over Pyongyang within three days earlier this month, were the type that required a special launcher or runway and were impossible for a civilian group to deploy. them.
The two Koreas are still technically at war, after the 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The border links are remnants of periods of rapprochement between the countries, including a 2018 summit when they declared there would be no more war and a new era of peace had begun.
North Korea reintroduced heavy weapons into the Demilitarized Zone border protection zone and restored guard posts, after the sides declared that a 2018 military agreement aimed at easing tensions was no longer valid.
This content was originally published in North Korea may blow up roads on the border with the South, says Seoul on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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